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The Legacy
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Review
This is a great yarn, spanning several generations, with neat twists and a surprising ending. (PRIMA )
A bit of a saga that has it all - mystery, intrigue, history and a great big old house. (Amanda Ross RADIO TIMES )
A haunting novel of betrayal (WOMAN & HOME )
'Brilliant and absorbing drama" (GOOD HOUSEKEEPING )
A hauntingly beautiful saga which has it all - mystery, intrigue, and history - with clever twists and turns, and a surprise ending. (HENLEY STANDARD )
A real page turner of love, hate, empathy and how dealing with the demons can free you to face up to your fears. A great read. (SOUTH WALES ARGUS )
A bit of a saga that has it all - mystery, intrigue, history and a great big old house. (Amanda Ross RADIO TIMES )
A haunting novel of betrayal (WOMAN & HOME )
'Brilliant and absorbing drama" (GOOD HOUSEKEEPING )
A hauntingly beautiful saga which has it all - mystery, intrigue, and history - with clever twists and turns, and a surprise ending. (HENLEY STANDARD )
A real page turner of love, hate, empathy and how dealing with the demons can free you to face up to your fears. A great read. (SOUTH WALES ARGUS )
Book Description
Two sisters. One heart-breaking secret. And a past that cannot stay buried.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
244 of 254 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story centres around sisters Erica and Beth Calcott who inherit the family seat, Storton Manor, from their cold, unloving grandmother Meredith. From the blurb I expected it to be a run-of-the-mill dual-timeframe 'woman inherits house and discovers family secrets buried within' type story, of which I've read quite a few lately, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It's streets ahead of a lot of the genre in terms of the quality of the writing, the originality of the historical setting and sheer page-turning readability.
In the contemporary story, Erica is dealing with her sister's depression, her rekindled feelings for her childhood friend Dinny and the fall-out from the disappearance of her cousin Henry who went missing during a family holiday at the house in the balmy summer of 1986. At the same time she starts to delve into her family history, discovering a cache of old photographs and letters in the attic which causes her to question her heritage and her family's links to the travellers who have lived on their land since the beginning of the last century.
The historical thread involves Erica's aristocratic Great-Grandmother Caroline, someone she remembers only vaguely from her childhood as a fierce, matriarchal figure. Caroline comes alive as her story is told, from her early years as a New York debutant under the thumb of her domineering Aunt Bathilda, to her life as a rancher's wife in the wilds of Oklahoma. A tragic event causes her to flee to London and make a new life for herself as Lady Calcott, bringing with her a terrible secret for which she has to atone for the rest of her life.
The two threads blend together beautifully with the links becoming more obvious as the book progresses (including a twist near the end involving the missing cousin which I had an inkling about from early on). With this type of book I usually prefer the historical story, but for once I was equally engrossed in both elements and could happily have read a whole novel based on either.
I understand that The Legacy is Katherine Webb's seventh completed novel but only the first to be published and it came to the publisher's attention through a peer-review creative writing website. She now has a two book deal and her next book, The Unseen, is out next year and sounds very interesting. Meanwhile The Legacy is a great read and definitely one for fans of the work of Katharine McMahon, Rachel Hore, Kate Morton etc.
In the contemporary story, Erica is dealing with her sister's depression, her rekindled feelings for her childhood friend Dinny and the fall-out from the disappearance of her cousin Henry who went missing during a family holiday at the house in the balmy summer of 1986. At the same time she starts to delve into her family history, discovering a cache of old photographs and letters in the attic which causes her to question her heritage and her family's links to the travellers who have lived on their land since the beginning of the last century.
The historical thread involves Erica's aristocratic Great-Grandmother Caroline, someone she remembers only vaguely from her childhood as a fierce, matriarchal figure. Caroline comes alive as her story is told, from her early years as a New York debutant under the thumb of her domineering Aunt Bathilda, to her life as a rancher's wife in the wilds of Oklahoma. A tragic event causes her to flee to London and make a new life for herself as Lady Calcott, bringing with her a terrible secret for which she has to atone for the rest of her life.
The two threads blend together beautifully with the links becoming more obvious as the book progresses (including a twist near the end involving the missing cousin which I had an inkling about from early on). With this type of book I usually prefer the historical story, but for once I was equally engrossed in both elements and could happily have read a whole novel based on either.
I understand that The Legacy is Katherine Webb's seventh completed novel but only the first to be published and it came to the publisher's attention through a peer-review creative writing website. She now has a two book deal and her next book, The Unseen, is out next year and sounds very interesting. Meanwhile The Legacy is a great read and definitely one for fans of the work of Katharine McMahon, Rachel Hore, Kate Morton etc.
85 of 89 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What you have to understand about this book is that it is so far out of my normal choice of reading as to not even be on my horizon. Normally limiting myself to Sci-Fi or Fantasy I will, however, read a book if recommended by a trusted source, and so this is how I came to "The Legacy".
The author has an amazing skill, strong, believable characters, who are weaved into a beautifully crafted and intriguing plot. The historical portions of the tale are clearly well researched (without the author falling into the trap of "I've researched all of this so you will get every single detail of everything I know", but that research is used as the framework to hang a tale of adventure, sorrow and joy. The contemporary portions compliment and dovetail seamlessly into the overall story, and the author allows, on occasion, the reader to correctly assume something later revealed to be true (and therefore feel very smug and clever) and then, later, twist the plot around into something unexpected and yet, once revealed, you know the clues were there all along!
If I could write half as good as this, I'd be twice the writer I am now!
Brilliant.
If the author has anything else in the pipeline then it will be on my shopping list.
Why are you still reading this? Go buy the book!
The author has an amazing skill, strong, believable characters, who are weaved into a beautifully crafted and intriguing plot. The historical portions of the tale are clearly well researched (without the author falling into the trap of "I've researched all of this so you will get every single detail of everything I know", but that research is used as the framework to hang a tale of adventure, sorrow and joy. The contemporary portions compliment and dovetail seamlessly into the overall story, and the author allows, on occasion, the reader to correctly assume something later revealed to be true (and therefore feel very smug and clever) and then, later, twist the plot around into something unexpected and yet, once revealed, you know the clues were there all along!
If I could write half as good as this, I'd be twice the writer I am now!
Brilliant.
If the author has anything else in the pipeline then it will be on my shopping list.
Why are you still reading this? Go buy the book!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a beautiful book! Hs 3 diferent times visited, one 150 years ago, another 20 years ago and last one is right now. Touches so many lives, So much suffering, human pain and depression, but the book is quite upbeat, very enjojable, unfolds all the time and keeps you wanting more. Can't wait for another one of the same author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good story
I have just finished this book and I have to say it was a good story. However I agree with one of the other reviews who said there were just to many words. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Lorraine
Good read
Really enjoyed the book - kept you wondering how it might end. Felt the was a tie up of the story was a bit engineered to a certain degree considering there wasnt much 'evidence'... Read more
Published 14 days ago by aleben
A cracking read
I read this book on my Kindle and although I can't call it a page turner as there are no pages it is a real button clicker. A really good read and I couldn't put it down.
Published 24 days ago by Mary
Not very good
I really had to persevere to plod through this - it was not the page turner I expected. The writing style is rather heavy handed and the lack of communication between the main... Read more
Published 1 month ago by K. T. Sims
The Legacy, read April 2012
First book I have read by this author and was pleasantly surprised. I thought she wrote descriptively and grammatically and was easy to follow. Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. Lawler
Wonderful
I read The Unseen first and never thought a book could be better. How wrong I was, thankfully. I was totally and uttery engrossed in this book which was heartbreaking in parts. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Yorkshire Rose
The Legacy
The book was deliverd they quickly very very very good price and my wife like like reading it Thanks very good AAAA +
Published 2 months ago by T
Enthralling with a twist
When first picking up this book it took a while to get into it and those of you who are considering purchasing this you will need to persevere. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Deemac
Absolutely Gorgeous Read!
I chose The Legacy from one of three books as part of a promotion and was so taken in by it - very addictive, interesting, historical read which kept me well and truly engaged! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Natalie Moorcock
A Nice Summer Read
I enjoyed this book. It's an easy read that would have been accented nicely by a warm beach and a pina colada. Katherine Webb writes beautifully and draws deeply realistic images. Read more
Published 4 months ago by GemT
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